Goodbye 2014 Hello 2015

18.14 in 2014, 2015, a, farmers, festive, goodbye, hello, market, Paid, the, to, trip

What do you mean it is the end of 2014?!?! Seriously though, where has this year gone? Scary!

My family have never really done a big shabang thing for new years. I think Ive only ever stayed up till midnight twice, once when I was skiing with school and dived to the ground in fear as people where setting off fireworks all around will nilly. The other time I was pretty uneventful so I never bothered again, but my parents said something about at the strike of 12 the darkest haired family member has to run out the back door, with a coin in their pocket then back in the front door with the coin in their hand. I think it was something to do with good luck, good fortune, good health. 

But the other day I saw Ela Gales Weird & Wonderful New Years Traditions and I may try some of those out. I was especially intrigued by the coloured underwear one (Ill let you read about it here). Which colour underwear would you like to wear on new years eve?

Normally, I dont really do the whole new years resolution thing. Well I have sometimes said the generic ones like Im going to give up chocolate. But lets be realistic here. Chocolate! 

However, this year I really want to set myself some resolutions - which are more like goals. I think it will be really nice to look back at the end of 2015 and see if Ive achieved them. But to be honest I really dont want to be thinking that far ahead yet.

• Do more acts of kindness - Before Christmas I dropped off a bag of food at my local food bank and after doing so and writing a blog post on it (here) it has made me want to do more things out of kindness.

• Have a more positive outlook - Im such a hypocrite as Im always telling others to look on the bright side, or that there is always something good coming. But applying them to myself has just never been successful, so 2015 I hope to change that.

• Not spend so long doing nothing - Basically, stop procrastinating so much and just spending days on end watching youtube, TV series and films. Instead I want to try and get out and do things, be a good kind of busy.

• Work harder on my A levels - This kind of links with the one above. Ive always been someone who puts effort in but its usually too late, too close to the exams. So I want to try and get ahead and do extra to help me achieve good grades.

• Start yoga - I said this way back in my summer bucket list - it never happened. But I did one or two yoga videos the other day and really enjoyed it, it was so relaxing. So, hopefully now that Im starting to enjoy working out and living a healthier lifestyle, yoga will tie in nicely.

Now onto some blogging related goals.

• Try and get an understanding of technical things - To say I spend a lot of my time on the internet I really dont understand much; html,SEO etc. Id love to be able to learn things so I can improve Nimble Note in terms of things such as design.

• Improve photography skills - This links with the above. I really want to sit down and learn, not only about my current camera, but also how to enhance my photos in ways such as set up, lighting and editing. Hopefully by the end of 2015 I may have purchased a new camera, better suited for blogging. I wish I could now, but some things have to be worked and waited for.

• Befriend some fellow bloggers- I have made acquaintances through the internet before, but they have remained only acquaintances. The blogging community is so big and to get to know even just a few would be amazing.

• Attend an event - I didnt even know there where such things as blogger events until a month or two ago. The thought of attending one is both quite daunting and exciting. 

I want to wish you all a Happy New Year and I hope 2015 is a brilliant year for us all!

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The Versatile Blogger Award

14.38 in 2014, 2015, award, blogger, goodbye, hello, Paid, the, versatile

The other week I was nominated for The Versatile Blogger Award by the lovely Tegan from Permanent Procrastination (thank you for the nomination)! I highly recommend you go over and have a read, she has a wonderful blog and I absolutely love her home posts - the inspiration posts are similar to how I would like to decorate my own home in the future.

Rules of the award :

• - Show the Award on your Blog
• - Thank the person who nominated you
• - Share 7 facts about yourself
• - Nominate 15 blogs
• - Link to your nominees and notify them!
• 
  

My 7 Facts :

1. I eat a banana and blueberries everyday - obviously apart from the odd occasions when we dont have them in, in which case I feel a bit strange haha. 
2. I did morris dancing for 9 years - not the bells and handkerchief type, the one with pom poms
3. When I was 3 a neighbour gave my quavers and coke and apparently I was hyper for 3 days straight.
4. I have never broken/fractured any bones - hopefully I havent just jinxed myself.
5. I was an extra a few times for TV shows a year or 2 ago - I miss drama quite a bit
6. My dad always used to joke that if I was a boy I would have been called Baldrick Ignasous Cadwellider (I dont even know how to spell it) and I genuinely believed him.
7. I can do the grumpy cat face.

The bloggers I nominate (in no order) :

• - Karolina from Brunette Wavez
• - Emma from Wallflower Wardrobe
• - Fii from Little Miss Fii
• - Mandy from One Slice Of Lemon
• - Genevieve from Genevieves Life Blog
• - Eli from Marshmellows Diary
• - Leanne from A Slice Of My Life
• - Louise from The What Now Blog
• - Jordan from Hello Miss Jordan
• - Cat from More About Cat
• - Alex from On Serpentine Shores
• - Courtney from Broke But Not Basic
• - Cece from La Vie Cece
• - Courtney Ella from Health, Happiness and Lifestyle
• - Katie from Insight

Of course anyone can go ahead a do it! Id love to read your posts if you do it, so please leave a link in the comments or tweet it to me (@nimblenoteblog) 

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1 Year Of Blogging Highlights

18.28 in 1, 2015, blogging, fashion, highlights, of, Paid, summer, wishlist, year

Well lets start off by saying hello. How have you all been? Its been a while since I sat down to write a blog post, its actually been just over a month - wow! 

As many of you probably know, it has been exam season and, as June is beginning to come to an end, so many students are skipping around in celebration of exams ending (or you may be crawling from exhaustion). I decided, around the beginning of May, that I wouldnt be blogging as much - so instead of doing 2 posts a week, I only did one. But, as I increased my revision I began finding that I wasnt getting much time to relax and de-stress.  For this reason, I decided to put blogging to the side for a while.

It may have also seemed that I kind of vanished of the Internet a little. I still read a few blog posts here and there but I really didnt do as much commenting as Id like to. I stopped taking part in blogger chats, because Im a major procrastinator and they would have been too distracting. Yes I still liked instagram photos and favorited tweets, but I wasnt really putting things up myself or having conversations etc, and Im not going to lie but I felt like I was no longer in the blogging community. 

But anyway...

My last exam was on the 19th of June and, as of today, my coursework is finished which means that I have officially finished sixth form. I did think about getting straight back into blogging after my last exam, but I felt like I needed a week were I didnt have anything to do at home (it was very nice, but felt so strange and I felt guilty for just lying there watching netflix). 

But then the other day, I realised the 26th June marks 1 year since my first blog post went up! 1 whole year (Yes technically I didnt blog for a month, but I havent given up). So, to mark one year of blogging, I decided to choose some of my favourite posts that Ive written. I am proud of them all, but these ones are a few that stand out.

Oh Time...

Give A Special Gift

7 Annoying Problems When Wearing Glasses

3 Course Meal For 1 For Under £5

A Little Message | Being The Best At Everything

Vegetable Noodle Soup

Looking through my posts got me thinking, and I decided to pick out a few of my favourites from the blogs I read. So I went through my long list of saved posts on Bloglovin and chose I few that I really enjoyed reading. I decided not to include any recipes otherwise the list would be very, very long.

25 Things All Girls Secretly Do - Hannah Gale

Six Ways To Love Your Body More - Hayley-Eszti

7 Things To Remember When People Knock You Down - Britton Loves

Behind The Scenes Of An Introvert - Wander To Wonder

5 Secrets To Success - A Beautiful Mess

My Acne Story - Alicia Deyes Writes

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Summer Fashion Wishlist 2015

14.08 in 11, 2015, and, fashion, Paid, revision, summer, tips, tricks, wishlist

In the past, during summer time, I havent really been too bothered about what Im wearing, purely because of the fact that I didnt have a clue what to wear other than the same standard things. Im one of those people who when I find something I like, it sticks! Not in the sense that I have a favourite outfit which I wear at least once a week. Nope. I take it to the next level and I literally become like a cartoon character (never looking different). Need an example? Well, lets just say I wore pigtails everyday for about 3 years. Oh and we mustnt forget the wonderful cropped jeans, carefully folded down white knee high socks and silver ballet shoes that were my staple around the same time (I was about 11, dont judge).

Over the years, I have gotten much better at changing things up. Those cropped jeans are long gone, but Ive noticed that leggings seem to have taken their place. I understand that some people dislike the standard black leggings, but they are so comfy so Im happy. 

But, I have been wanting to slip my legs into more jeans, preferably ones that are stretchy and comfy, which is why Ive added some topshop jeans to the list. Yes, I know Im late to the whole topshop jean hype, well Im not technically part of it yet as I havent purchased any, but I plan to. 

I also need to step out of my comfort zone in the shoe area, instead of converse day in day out. Personally, Im not a fan of getting my feet out on display but I love these 2 pairs of shoes as they appear to still keep most of the foot covered. 

Fun fact: I own no jewellery other than a tub of earrings. That needs to change and I have been loving the look of dainty necklaces for a while now.

As I have browsed for these items over a few days, I didnt realise that I mainly chose dark coloured things even though this is meant to be a summer wishlist. Well, my mum does say I suit dark colours more, so Id look pretty good wearing these...Id hope.

1. Topshop Black Ripped Joni Jeans £38

2. Miss Guided Gretta Shirt Dress Paisley £28

3. Miss Guided Red Scarf Shirt Dress £28

4. Miss Selfridge Petites Floral Pinny Dress £35

5. Miss Selfridge Jungle High Neck Cami £18

6. ASOS Swing Dress with Cold Shoulder & Flared Sleeve & Lace Trim £22

7. New Look Blue Diamond Print Slim Leg Trousers £17.99

8. ASOS Petite Playsuit with Kimono Sleeve £35

9. ASOS River Island High Neck Swing Dress £30

10. ASOS Mardy Gladiator Tbar Shoes £20

11.Miss Selfridge Ditsy Triangle Necklace £5

12. Office Limelight High Vamp Loafer £65

P.s I know I mentioned that Im pretty rubbish with fashion on twitter the other day, but I seem to be able to pick out nice items but then its putting them together in an outfit and styling things which is my struggle. Anyone else like this?

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8 Romantic Recipes For Valentines Day 2015

01.50 in 2015, 8, day, drink, for, how, more, Paid, recipes, romantic, tips, to, valentines, water

This is a guest post by Laura from Little Lauras who shares all kinds of lovely things. 

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With Valentines Day right around the corner, Ive become completely and utterly obsessed with everything about the holiday. This is 100% new for me (we dont tend to do a great deal on Valentines Day. Pancake day is where its really at!) but I have to say, Im growing ever fond of the idea. Gorgeous flowers are popping up in every shop window, store shelves have been taken over by glittering pink & red cards and, my favourite part of all, Pinterest is totally overloaded with the cutest Valentines recipes Ive ever laid my eyes on. I seriously cant stop looking at them! Doughnuts, pancakes, cookies, brownies, cupcakes - you name it, Pinterest has got it! As were only 3 days away from the most romantic day on the planet, I thought Id share with you my favourite recipes to inspire you to get baking this year! Here they are: 

Meringue Pops  (Left)

Valentine Mini Baked Dounuts (Right)

Double Decker Stripy Valentine Cookies (Left) 

Valentine Sweets (Right)

Crepe Cake With Mascarpone Cream Filling (Left)

Rice Krispie Valentine Lollipops (Right)

Double Heart Cookies (Left)

Creamy Fudge Hearts (Right)

What do you guys think? Anything youd like to try? Let me know in the comments below!

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8 Places Id Like To Visit Part 2

04.01 in 2, 2015, 8, day, for, id, like, Paid, part, places, recipes, romantic, to, valentines, visit

So heres the second half of the list (part 1). Writing these posts and looking at all the wonderful photos, whilst glancing out my window to a view of the back of houses and rainy weather, has made me really want to just head to one of the places now. But seeing as that isnt possible, Ill just have to take in what I have and look forward to hopefully visiting these amazing places.

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Switzerland

My dad did a bit of travelling with a group of friends when he was in his 20s and they travelled across to Switzerland, from France, and visited a few different places. They went down the backpacking route and instead of staying in hotels, opted to camp. He always shares great stories with me, one being that because of their accent and dialect, another group didnt think they where English and instead started running off countries (luckily I dont sound like that...well hopefully). I love looking at the pictures he took and would love to some day visit the places he did - Zermatt, Visp, Basel, Geneva and Interlaken. As well as the beautiful Swiss national park.

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New Zealand & Fji

Okay so technically, this makes it 9 places rather than 8, but Id love to go from one to the other. I only recently have been made interested in visiting here, whilst watching the lovely Carly Rowenas travel vlog from when she visited. Thats my type of holiday - full of adventure! Although I dont really mind the odd beach day, I would much rather be in the sea doing a water activity. Both places look glorious and I would love to do a bunch of the activities Carly did, they all look so fun; however Id probably get a little tense at the underwater cave swimming.

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Iceland

Until I was about 12/13 I dont really think Id heard much about the country (is that bad?) However, I somehow befriended some from Iceland - we lost touch after about a year. But, country looks to hold some beautiful scenes. Some of the things Id like to do are: visit the Skaftafell Ice Cave, relax in the hot springs at Blue Lagoon, witness the magic of the Northern Lights and trek in Landmannalaugar.

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South Africa

I remember watching a show on CBBC that was like a reality show for kids, which was based in South Africa called Safari 8 and it made me really interested in visiting. Literally, every show I watched like it - like Outback 8 and all the Serious shows - I wanted to go on. Fun fact: I actually applied to go on Escape to Scorpian Island in 2008/9. Anyway, went a little off topic there. South Africa is home to some beautiful animals and itd be amazing to go on a safari trip and view them in their natural habitat rather than in enclosures and zoos. Although I think Id be pretty scared, itd be great to go on an adventurous canopy tour. Also, to spend some time in Cape town.

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